Sports Beyond Measure Podcast: How Bill Lazor's Departure Impacted Eagles
By Vince Quinn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Quarterback, quarterback, quarterback. You can't win a Super Bowl without a quarterback, right?
Odds are then that if you're a Super Bowl team you'd better have a darn good quarterback coach too. The Eagles did, but when Bill Lazor left to be the offensive coordinator for Miami, Nick Foles' development took a serious hit.
Shaky decision-making, unsettled feet—despite the 5-2 record (Texans game excluded) Nick Foles clearly regressed this year. Foles' second season in Chip Kelly's system resulted in a stat line of 2,163 yards 13 TDs and 10 INTs following his amazing 27 TD, 2 INT performance in '13.It gets worse. Foles completion percentage dropped from 64% to 59.4% with nearly the same number of throws and similar offensive weapons.
There are plenty of ways to shoo off the idea that Foles' regression isn't related to coaching, but Lazor's impact on Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is fairly similar.
Here's the numbers from Tannehill's career thus far:
YEAR ATT COMP % YARDS TDs INTs
2012 484 58.3 3294 12 13
2013 588 60.4 3913 24 17
2014 590 66.4 4045 27 12
As you can see, 2014 was another career year from an average quarterbacking talent under Bill Lazor.
But just like a cheesy made for TV product, "That's not all!" Lazor improved the quality of play at the quarterback position during his stint with the Redskins (2006-2007) and survived a regime change with the Seahawks following the 2008 season.
Does this mean Nick Foles is doomed to a life of being a disposable, average quarterback? No, but Lazor's departure is worth discussing when deciding on Foles' future as an Eagle.
The Sports Beyond Measure Podcast is a weekly sports podcast that delivers a fun perspective on the latest headlines in national sports, Philadelphia professional sports and community-based sports. The series is hosted by 94 WIP's Vince Quinn, Ray Boyd and Eric "Turtle" Golden.
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